


Catch These Hands

by ollie_oxen_free



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Almost death, Anyways, Blood, Fake Edgy, Fighting, M/M, Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms, Violence, and an excuse to write fight scenes, anyways just read it, because i like doing that and i also want to get better at it, by kicking each other's asses, he doesnt even use spice, he makes Lasagna, i didnt even list all of them, i dont think its supposed to be spicy, idk what this is, its not graphic but its still there, just two bros being bros, or dont, shitty characterizations, this is both a way for me to characterize my slim a bit more for yall, unhealthy mindsets, why are all the ship names involving spicy, why is uf paps spicy to us, you see the bad thing about rarepairs is that theres like 50000 ship names
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-10
Updated: 2017-12-25
Packaged: 2019-02-12 22:02:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,303
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12969324
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ollie_oxen_free/pseuds/ollie_oxen_free
Summary: Surprisingly, Slim and himself have more in common than originally presumed.Whether that's a good or a bad thing is still up in the air.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [SansyFresh](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SansyFresh/gifts).



> so fresh is an enabler and i just like this ship and yea. read the tags and whatnot and prepare your ass because im going in dry.

Fell rolled his head on his shoulders, lifting them up and down a bit to loosen himself up before he dropped down into a defensive stance, weight low and magic primed for attacks. “Ready when you are.”

A few feet away, hands shoved deep into his pockets, stood Slim, tense and shaky. The other swallowed, shifting a bit back and forth, head occasionally twitching to the left as his magic flared. “Uh… You sure this is the best idea?”

Fell raised a brow. “I’m sorry, would you prefer to snap again and attack the others?”

A hiss sounded as Slim let a harsh breath out through his teeth, hands coming out to unzip his coat and throw it off to the side. The slightest bit of apprehension was in his figure, but the influx of excitement and lust for violence far outshined it. The leather jacket landed with a thud on the ground, and with it went the other’s slouch, Slim standing straight up and rolling his shoulders in the sockets. Standing like so, he was almost as tall as Fell. He frowned at the thought.

Slim was unstable. It was something that Fell knew, that their friends knew, that strangers knew. Even Slim himself knew it, knew that he wasn’t riding the fence and was instead standing entirely on the other side of it, one foot barely propped up on the rungs of the separator. Maybe the other cared about his separation. Maybe he didn’t.

Of course, the mentality could be lightly excused by the level of the other. With a LV of 16 it was honestly admirable how he could interact with others the way that he did. Sometimes, though, sometimes the EXP won out over logical thought, begging, _ demanding _ for dust and blood and violence, magic coursing through the body and soul in dangerous amounts until there was no real choice but to let it out.

With adjustment, it hadn’t taken much for them to learn to grasp control of the emotions, of the magic, weaning out of it and taking better hold of the magic. It was a dangerous game, still holding such, but Fell had learned to control it, had taken the reigns and pulled it in. It took time, and effort, and there were times that he, under greater acknowledgement of it and lack of satiating the hunger of the LV, had snapped. It had taken time.

It hadn’t taken time for Slim. From the moment that they all moved into Undertale, the other was open, easy, relaxed, like he didn’t live his whole life in a universe where every second of his life was spent with trying to fight for continued survival, like he didn’t hold the highest level out of all of them. It was a shock that they chalked up to Slim being Slim, deciding to ignore it. That is, until he had snapped for the first time.

Repressing the violence made it build up, and the outbursts where he lost control, where he went feral, only added to the violence. It was unhealthy and unsafe for everyone involved, Slim most of all. The violent outbursts of energy would only end up hurting anyone, and if while in one of his breakdowns, Slim actually killed someone?

...Fell wasn’t sure he wanted to think of the consequences, just staying satisfied at the graveness of the situation.

Though he wasn’t sure if Slim was truly aware of the gravity of the circumstances.

“Eh, I’m just not too sure if you can handle me.” The other winked. “I don’t wanna hurt you, after all.”

Fell gave him an unimpressed look. “I assure you, the only thing that may be even remotely injured is my intellect if you insist on acting like a fucking idiot in my presence.”

The grin on the other’s face was wild, slightly crazed and hungry. “Well, get some butter, cuz I’ve been fucking roasted.”

...Wow.

He lunged after that, and Fell barely managed to step out of the way before jagged bones speared into the ground where he had just been standing. Magic was humming in the air, making him bristle and project in response. Slim had always been a cocky asshole, but as he stood, turning slowly and rolling his head around on his neck with a few harsh pops, he exuded confidence, magic lacing over his cracked phalanges and wisping up from the pupil of his eye.

“You planning on attacking? Or are you just gonna dodge all my shit?” He took a few steps to the side and Fell mirrored the action, keeping a wary eye on the other.

“I’ll fight back when you do more than throw pansy attacks at me.” 

Slim laughed as he raised a hand, grin wide, the air cracking like lightning as three blasters appeared behind him, high-pitched humming coming from the attacks before the magic shot through the air. He moved to the side, avoiding the strikes, before he managed to get in close enough to the other to swipe, the jagged point of bone catching him and knocking off a few points of HP.

Slim let out an outright  _ gleeful _ laugh at that, blasters dispersing as he shot forward quicker than Fell could react, arms latching around his torso and tackling him to the ground. Fell growled, folding his legs up and managing to flip their positions, Slim’s fist shooting up and catching him across the jaw. The hits didn’t stop after that, quickly jabbing his ribs, the side of his face, his spine. Of course, he didn’t let up either, knuckles aching as he struck hard and fast. 

There was a sharp exhale of air as Slim shot his head forward, the center of his forehead connecting with his nasal ridge, making him curse loudly, balance faltering as he was thrown to the side. He rolled to his feet, moving his hand from his nose to see blood covering his fingers, a similar splatting of red on Slim’s forehead. The other was still grinning, though the crazed look in his eyes had faded the slightest. Fell spat, the pale red tint of his magic swirled with the dark red of blood.

Good. So it was working then.

“I’ll have you know,” Slim bragged, cockiness seeping into his voice as he leaned over, his hand splayed on his chest like there wasn’t a growing bruise across the side of his face and blood dripping from his cracked knuckles, “I was an  _ excellent _ fighter back underground.”

Brag was his specialty. “Says the sentry to the Lieutenant.”

“I think you’ll find,  _ Lieutenant,” _ Slim mocked, leaning back and clenching his hands into fists. “That it’s a lot easier to sneak around when you’re simply a sentry.” The talking and banter was good. It meant he had enough control for logical thought.

Though Slim had hit on the main difference between the two of them. Fell had raced his way to the highest rank he could earn without killing the current Captain, leaving a trail of resentment and hatred behind. And then he had turned around, moving his way down through the levels of power to command that respect. Slim did just the opposite, building he and his brother’s own ranks from the ground up, gaining the fear and respect from the bottom before fighting his way through the fray to the top. The same two sides of different coins, with two different solutions for the same problem: survival.

Such was a topic of thought for another day. “Well,  _ Sentry, _ I’m sure you know that such hiding in the shadows only works when your opponent isn’t knowledgeable of your capabilities.”

Slim grinned at that, and Fell found the corners of his own mouth twitching up as he formed a solid bone, twirling it in his hand. Slim did the same, throwing his dramatically up in the air, catching it and spinning it over his head before dropping his weight down, the pointed tip aimed directly towards him. The violent glint in his eyes was still there, but beside it rested the familiar amusement and extravagancy that Slim was so often portraying. “Don’t fuck with me! I have the power of God and anime on my side!”

He sighed. “If you’re going to quote vines, at least make it a good one.”

And then he was moving forward once more, bone construct swinging in an arc to connect with the other’s, the static sound of attacks against one another filling the air before they moved apart, slamming into one another once more. Slim swung down, catching him leg and knocking him to the ground, bringing the construct over and around to slam down, only for him to jump out of the way last minute, pushing back to his feet and blocking the attack.

Fell focused his magic, reaching into nothing and pulling a blaster forth, feeding his magic into it as he aimed it directly at Slim. The other just grinned, raising a hand and forming two of his own, and Fell prepared to dodge only to watch the two smaller clamp down on the blaster hovering a few feet above him, their sharp teeth causing the bone of his attack to crack before it shattered, the blaster disintegrating. Fell barely had time to react properly before Slim was moving forward with a laugh, bone swinging around and connecting with his own once more.

The breaking of his attack had left him dazed, and the harsh blow against the bone in his hands caused it to go swinging off to the side, burying itself in the grass at the base of a nearby tree. That wasn’t enough for Slim, of course- Fell would honestly be disappointed if it  _ was- _ the bone jabbing forward into the space where he was standing. Fell sidestepped most of it, the jagged end catching part of his exposed spine, grabbing onto the length and pulling the other forward. He latched on, starting to wrestle him to the ground once more, ignoring how Slim used the sharp point of his elbow to jab into his side over and over and over until he was certain the metal had to be the slightest bit dented at the very  _ least _ and his ribs were aching, his breaths now burning his ribcage.

He threw him on the ground, landing on top, claws reaching for the other’s throat, growling in pain when Slim latched onto the forearm closest to him with his teeth. Though, the grip of the teeth loosened as Slim got his legs under him once more, throwing him off to the side. Fell landed, primed for attack once more, but stopped when he saw that Slim was just laying on the ground, teeth smeared with blood and huge grin splitting his face.

He caught enough breath to speak. “What? Done already?”

Slim groaned, though the sound turned into a laugh as he swiped a hand down his face, pulling away his palm and looking at the gore on his fingers with a laugh. “Yep. I’m good for now.”

Fell stood straight, pushing back the sting of his injuries (they were all minor, anyways, nothing that wouldn’t be fixed with a bit of food and some magic) as he looked over the other’s form. Relaxed and open, the thrum of heavy violence that had seemed to pull his figure taut gone for the moment. He hummed, looking down at his armor and the gashes in his bones, already beginning to go over what injuries he would have to bandage. “Did it help?”

Slim grunted as he sat up, and Fell walked over, extending a hand and pulling him to his feet. “Yeah. Yeah, it did.” He snorted, fingers of one hand picking at the cracked knuckles of the other. “S’a hell of a lot better than just snapping and coming to a few hours later chained up or pinned down.”

Fell huffed a laugh in return, turning and beginning to walk out of the clearing that they had come to where he had a few medical supplies and food. He didn’t bother to acknowledge that they both knew that Slim would rather wake up in one of the two situations as opposed to injuring his brother or someone else he cared about. Now there was a third option, far from gaining the approval of anyone else, but it was still there, still something available. Fell doubted they would tell anyone about it.

Red would let it go eventually, of course, but would insist on being there no matter what. Fell wasn’t sure he wanted his brother so near the dangerous game that he was playing. And of course Razz would refuse to allow anyone to “know better than him,” or whatever prideful bullshit he would make up to try and keep the others from invading into the Swapfell brothers’ lives, taking Fell’s role himself. The point would be moot, then. Fell was doing this because he refused to let Slim loose control and dust his brother or anyone else, and Slim was doing it because he would rather have his ass handed to him daily than lashing out at Razz when particularly tense. It worked.

Fell glanced out of the corner of his eye as Slim trotted up beside him, jacket held in the less bloody arm as he scratched at the drying flakes of blood on his bones. They stepped out of the thin treeline, making a way towards his car. Slim sat on the hood, tossing his jacket into the open roof as Fell grabbed the med kit, deciding not to comment on it for the moment. He sat beside the other, opening the kit and grabbing a wad of gauze and peroxide, wetting the cloth before wiping it along the gashes on his arm. Slim dug around in the box, pulling a piece of monster candy out with a triumphant laugh and popping it in his mouth. Fell rolled his eyes, tossing the dirtied gauze to the side and grabbing a healing patch, tearing it open with his teeth as he wrapped it over his arm, covering the majority of the gashes that Slim’s teeth had left in his arm.

A pad of gauze smacked into his face and he squacked, smacking Slim’s arms away as the other rubbed it on his face. “No, no, you see, you’ve got a bit of blood right  _ here-” _

The pad went into his socket and he choked, reaching up and yanking it out as he glared at the other. Slim just laughed, thought the sound turned into a shout of his own as Fell shoved the gauze into his own face, refusing to let go as he scrubbed at the drying blood furiously, stopping once a majority of the red was gone. Luckily, the candy had helped stop some of the bleeding, the other’s face remaining mostly clear after that.

Slim glared back at him once he was satisfied and sat back, tossing the used pad with the others. “You had a bit of blood right there.”

_ “Really now.” _

He smirked, saying nothing as he turned to look at his arm, the pad having healed the gashes to scars. They would fade with time. Fell checked the pad, seeing there was still magic left, and pulled it off completely, setting it off to the side. He reached up with only the slightest hesitation before he unclasped his armor, pulling it away to look at the dent on the front. That would have to be fixed later, but it could wait for the moment. He grabbed the pad, lifting up the edge of his shirt and placing it over the side of his ribs where he felt them already bruising, unsurprised to see a crack across one of them. The influx of magic over the injury made him suck in a breath, and he held it until the pain began to numb, letting his undershirt fall back down to cover what little it did.

He looked back up to see Slim watching him intently, expression calm with something flickering in his eyes. Their eyes met and Slim coughed, snatching another candy and quickly shoving it into his mouth. And then Fell realized that this was the first time he had taken his armor off in front of the other. He looked off to the side, hand coming up to trace the edge of the bandage as he pretended that nothing was wrong, even as the silence edged towards the wrong side of awkward.

He decided to break it.

“I thought you said you were a good fighter?”

Slim latched onto the topic, the easing lack of tension in his shoulders showing his appreciation for something more comfortable. “And just what the hell is that supposed to mean?”

Fell rolled his eyes, hand lifting to wave in front of himself as he talked. “Please, you just gave up at the end! I would hardly call lying down and waiting for a final blow ‘good fighting.’”

“Maybe that was just one of my secret tactics. Let you think I was done, bring you back here where your guard is down, and bam!” He clapped his hands together to emphasize his words. “I’ve defeated you.”

“I hardly think you would put in so much effort to plan an attack.”

Slim shrugged, grin on his face, thumb rubbing over the backs of his knuckles as his own magic slowly healed away the injuries. They could joke, and jest, and deny it all they wanted, but Fell knew that the reason that Slim hadn’t truly gone for the throat, the reason that he had allowed himself to show a weakness in the first place was the same reason that Fell hadn’t thought twice about taking his armor off. Whether they would admit it or not, they trusted each other.

Sitting on the hood of his car, bandaging their own wounds that the other had inflicted with jests, he could only hope that the trust wasn’t misplaced. 

For both of their sakes.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> another day, another thing he oh-so-graciously fucked up

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so, i know that this wasnt a gift at first, but fresh said she wanted to see more of this pairing and i felt like expanding on this a bit more to include Actual Romance (kinda) would be the best. so anyways.
> 
> MERRY CHRISTMAS, FRESH! youre one of the sweetest people i know, and i cant tell you how much your encouragement has meant to me these past few months, and im glad that you still enjoy talking to me after getting to know the asshole that i truly am. i hope this gift can express my gratitude (and if not then just tell me and i can write you more to show how thankful i am that youre my friend.)
> 
> merry christmas!

They fought more often after that. There was a joke in there somewhere, about comparing fighting and having sex- and Slim was the  _ best _ at making jokes about sex- but the joke didn’t change the fact that his fist had glanced off the sharp edge of Fell’s cheekbone more times than was often for the typical friendship. Slim had never been typical, though. Cue the edgy music and mentions of sounding like a special snowflake child.

Depression? We got it!

Regardless, they’d developed a routine. Whenever he felt like punching a wall until every bone in his hand was broken, he would call Fell. Then they would fight it out, and then bandage their wounds and he would make a clever quip about punching out and going home that was definitely still funny the tenth time around no matter what the other said. Slim liked routines. They made the time fly by quicker, but the fights and the blood and the gore had just enough surprise in it that he didn’t get bored. It was always fun, shrugging his jacket off and thinking ‘Wow, I wonder how I’ll get punched in the face this time?!’

God if something couldn’t be said about his impulsiveness, though. He would punch himself in the face, sometimes, if Fell didn’t do it for him. Actually, he would probably still punch himself in the face. He kinda wanted to punch himself in the face right now, left hook right across his jaw and knock out his other canine to make it even on both sides of his face, another glinting golden tooth for the golden boy.

Yeah, he was impulsive, but he also was something just along the lines of- what do the kids call it these days?- a fucking idiot. The impulsiveness made the idiot, or the idiot was impulsive, but it didn’t matter either way because no matter what reasoning he had behind it, he had grabbed Fell’s arm on his next swipe, yanking his forward and crashing their mouths together. It had felt right, felt like something that he needed to follow, and so he did, clutching him close and essentially pinning him with his mouth.

It sounded sexier when he didn’t think about it.

There were a few seconds of stillness before he realized that Fell was stiff, and he was stiff, and they were actually doing a fairly good impersonation of two middle schoolers sharing a kiss for the first time. A kiss. He was- shit.

He shoved the other away, stumbling back a few steps and blinking quickly, a chill running down his spine. Though that may have just been sweat or blood or something like that.

Fell was staring at him in shock, breathing still quick from the flow of magic and teeth parted slightly, his brow furrowed and face flushed. Quick, change the subject. “So… that airline food, huh?” 

“You…” The other paused, eyes flicking down to the ground like he was still trying to process just what had happened, “kissed me.”

There wasn’t much he could say to that. He had kissed Fell when he was supposed to be socking him in the kisser, which were two entirely different things. The thrum of violence was still heavy in his soul, but it was prompting him towards something different now, something with drugs and flashes of bodies and hangovers, and he was surprised enough that he didn’t want to do those things, as much as he felt that he had to. Drugs- maybe. But he couldn’t do anything else, he didn’t want to do anything else.    
“Yea,” he said in response, because he had no idea what the fuck else to say. Denying it wouldn’t have done anything. Then again, he probably could have played it off as a joke that neither one of them believed. 

Something- something in the passion of the moment, let’s go with that, something that had no meaning because it was something that wasn’t thought on at all. It definitely wasn’t something that he had thought about during his gayest of moments before the fight. Not at all. Heterosexual and Slim started with the same letter if you spelled Slim with an H. 

He started to shuffle back to where he knew his coat was, just going to grab it and go, and the fact that he was fleeing wasn’t taken well with the demand for breaking bones. Fell must have noticed his retreat, taking a step forward to follow him with his face turned down in a scowl, probably upset and angry. It was quieter than it usually was when they fought, the area behind his ribs burning and his body tense, and Slim may have been an idiot but Fell was far from a genius if the way that he continued to walk forward was anything to go off of. His body was tense and his magic was still flaring, and Slim lunged at the same time that the other reached out for him, defensive and needing to  _ defend _ and  _ attack _ and he was livid at himself but the next best thing was the guy who looked like him before he got a more interesting dental plan.

Action movies were a lot of bullshit, with odd tropes and cheesy one-liners, but it turned out that the one thing they all usually got right was the apparent existence of slow-mo during tense times. The time ticked so slowly that he could see the expressions slide across the other’s face, shock and fear, Fell beginning to move backwards but not quick enough, and the bone that Slim hadn’t noticed that was in his hand was both sharp and thin enough to be able to slide right between that nice cervical spine that Fell was showing with his scarf discarded to the side like it was.

He didn’t want to kill Fell. He didn’t want to.

He teleported with only the desire to get away, reappearing god-knows-where and driving the bone in his hand right through the trunk of a conveniently placed tree. It stuck fast, embedded deep in the bark, and he stepped away with a shaky breath as he dispelled it, watching sap slowly drip down the trunk as his hands shook.

_ Punch the tree, _ his mind demanded, but the tree didn’t do anything and he did kind of already stab it, which would just be even ruder. Plus he would get sap all over his hand. Nasty. He was finding reasons not to break his hand, he knew, because Fell would make that one face if he came back with shattered metacarpals once again, and the breaks were hard to hide without gloves.

He sat down, crossing his legs and hunching over as he scratched at his upper arms, taking in a deep breath. Yeah, it wasn’t working. He reached back into his pocket, pulling out one of the many pairs of headphones he kept on him with a sigh. It took a few tries before he managed to stab his headphones into the slot on his phone, closing his sockets as he turned the music up enough that it made him flinch with every hit of the drums and thrum of the bass.

He almost killed Fell, even if the other would deny it, and then he ran away like a coward and had to stop himself from injuring himself further, which was hilarious when he looked back on the fact that he was literally letting someone beat the shit out of him so that he wouldn’t kill anyone. He clicked the volume on his music louder, though it was already as high as it would go. It gave him something to do. Click click click click faster and faster until he broke his damn phone again and had to get another one.

A presence stepped from the treeline, and he didn’t have to look up to know that it was Fell, the other having somehow managed to follow him. His magic got all jittery when he was like this though, so of course he didn’t teleport far and Fell was able to easily track him down. The other’s magic was easy to sense, distinct and sharp. He’d fought him enough to know what it felt like cutting into his bones and slamming him into the ground or the nearest tree.

Fell stopped, just in front of him, and Slim cracked open an eye to see the other staring at him blankly. He pulled the earbuds out, looking up at the other and hoping that maybe he would take the sharp heel on the end of his boot and run it right through his socket. It would probably do a lot less damage to him than if it were a human. That certainly was a thought. He probably should have kept his earbuds in.

“Your music is loud as fuck,” Fell stated, fingers of his right hand drumming over his arms where they were crossed. He knew Slim could have hit him before he could’ve done anything. “I could hear it all the way from the treeline.”

“There’s a lot of noise in my head.” He tapped his finger against the side of his temple- the bone was weaker there, more able to just crack right down the center of his forehead with pressure from both sides,  _ right down the center- _ grinning lopsidedly. Cocky, probably, maybe a bit more strained than it should be. “The music helps to make it go static.”

And fighting made it disappear entirely, for a while, but he wasn’t sure that saying so out loud was the smartest idea with how Fell was glaring at him. Though maybe saying so would make the other hit him- right on the temple, right down the center, just crack and go- so it was a flip of the coin either way. The other wouldn’t, of course. His kindness was shrouded that way, masked in anger and indifference. Like Razz but not, like how he was both Stretch and Red but neither at the same time. Maybe he was supposed to be someone else, not some amalgamation of two universes, two people out of curiosity from the deity that had made him. Keep your hands to yourself, you fucker, he thought, though he knew that the hand clutching his body and whipping him back and forth and back and forth would keep going until he broke apart from their curiosity, spread out and shattered over the ground.

The hand clutching his life, the hand clutching his arm. He blinked, looking down to see Fell’s hand wrapped around his humerus, the gloves a stark red against the off-white bone. He had more chips on his bones than Fell. Constellations of pain. He snorted- god, he wasn’t funny at all, all fake edgy and mistakes- shaking his head and focusing back on the present. Fell was staring at him, angry but actually concerned, hand wrapped entirely around his upper arm, and if he really wanted to then he could snap the bone in two-

Maybe fighting wasn’t the best idea, since all he could really focus on at the moment was the loud static in his skull and how much breaking his ribs one by one would help to quell it. The grip on his arm lessened slightly and he shot his own hand up to grip the other’s wrist, using him as a grounding point.

“I don’t believe,” the other said, voice still managing to be commanding in his hesitance, “that we should be fighting like this anymore.”

Slim nodded. What was he supposed to say? ‘You’re right?’ Actually, saying that would probably be a good idea.

“Okay.” Good enough.

Fell nodded, letting go of his arm and gripping his wrist, pulling him up from the ground. An equal grip, held on both sides. Even if Fell let go, Slim would have to let go himself to fall. There was probably something symbolic in that. They stood for a few moments, staring at each other, before they let go. Fell started to walk back and Slim followed him, tucking his headphones in the pocket of his pants. His feet crunched in the gravel and leaves on the ground, satisfying and sharp.

“Can you teleport us back?”

Slim looked up. Fell was staring at him. He grinned. “I  _ can.” _

I was easier like this. Fell scoffed, steps slowing slightly, not really noticeable but still enough for him to be able to catch up to his side. The ground crunched beneath their feet.

“Must you be so annoying?”

He laughed, and it was genuine, and he could tell that Fell knew because the side of his mouth quirked in the way that it did when he was satisfied, like after a sharp attack or clever quip. There was something strong in it. 

“I must,” he stated loudly, fist slamming into his chest in a mocking imitation of a guardsman’s salute as he dropped his consonants to imitate the other’s voice. The mocking didn’t make sense anyways, but Fell’s mouth quirked up again. The other was going to let it slide, going to let  _ him _ slide, he realized. Slide all the way down where they were far enough that they could only give a nod of recognition like the cool kids did. But who was sliding and who was stable? Maybe they would both slide.

He reached forward and grabbed Fell’s hand, linking their fingers and pretending like it was fine. Just two bros holding hands after one had tried to actually kill the other. Everything was normal here! Fell squeezed his hand back, red eyelights darting to him for a moment before he refocused in front of him.

His mind was quiet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> fresh's AO3 is linked in the fic, and their tumblr is [here!](https://queenofbiscuits.tumblr.com/)

**Author's Note:**

> bitch at me on [tumblr](https://ollie-oxen-free.tumblr.com/)


End file.
